a buddy of mine works at the ford dealership doing auto details and he told me how they clean the cloth interior of the f-150, he said NOT to use auto cleaner that you buy at autozone or pepboys, because the cleaner will leave a nasty ring, but use regular laundry soap. Get a clean rag and some steaming hot water, put small amount of laundry soap on a rag and dip it in the water, and rub the rag to get a small amount of suds, then scrub seats evenly until spots are gone then let air dry, i just did my truck and it looks good.

 

I wonder if you sprayed Scotchguard on them, when they are clean, whether that would help future cleanups?

 

I sprayed mine with Scotchguard but haven't spilled anything on them yet, I did pour a small amount of water on the seat to see how well the Scotchguard worked and the water beaded up and ran right off.

 

True- the cleaners do leave rings, but these seats are so terribly difficult to keep clean, that I usually have to clean the entire surface anyway- rings only appear when you spotclean. I've had good luck with Tuff Stuff, etc, if I clean the entire surface.I'll have to try the laundry soap thing though... Thanks for the tip!

 

I use the Tuff-Stuff as well and works good. I am now waiting on my new neoprene seat covers for front and back that I ordered from the F150 Store. The only thing I don't like about these are there's more black color than the tan but they will be perfect for my 6 year old daughter and myself since I spend a lot of time on the beach surf fishing and I think you can throw them in the washer when needed.

 

Seat covers are the only way to go if you have the tan interior....

 

Scotchgaurd is your friend.

When I buy a new truck i spray the the seats, carpet, and floor mats with scotchgaurd. No problems with stains or spill. If you spill some coke it will bead up like water on new wax job. Blot the spill asap and no problems.

 

i just bought some custom seat covers to match the paint scheme of my truck, it is made out of the same material that wet suits are made of. Once installed no more food or drink in the truck!

 

I sprayed mine with Teflon. Make sure they are clean before you spray them with anything. Anything i spill on them now cleans up very easily and wont stain at all.

 

A little trick to dry clean to dry clean my seats and getting all those lint pieces and bits of fluff off my seats off is to take scotch Packaging tape and wrap it around my hand sticky side out patching the fabric so that the lint sticks to the tape then just toss out the tape out. leaves the seat clean without a bit of lint or any muck on the seat. Cheap and you will not believe the good job it does!

 

Not intending to hide a good looking seat, but I usually get a set of good (not expensive) seat covers for my vehicles. Keeps the seats cleaner and not worn over time, AND, they can be taken off and put in the washer/dryer, or air dried.

 

Now after you have done that you have to get every bit of the soap out of your car seats because they become like the soapy rag scrubbing the dirt off your jeans. If you have access to an rug cleaner put vinegar (a small amount) into the water spray it on and then vacuum it out. Do it until you have all the soap out. I recommend doing it in the summer. After dry and it can absorb liquid spray with scotchgard or fabric protect. But don't ever leave soapy water on seat as it absorbs dirt and stains better than it did before you cleaned them.

 

+1 what weedjust said. I too scotch guarded everthing in my T-Bird this fall. The seats, and the carpets. Likewise the carpets in my KR, and my wifes Lariat.

 

So I don't misunderstand you. You scrubbed out your seats with soapy water, let it dry and then scotchguarded those seats on top of the dried soapy water that you used to clean them. Did I understand correctly?

 

I took the bench seats out and put in bucket seats that I got very cheaply from one of those van conversion shops. Those shops take a car and modify them for people with disabilities. My seats even came with a console that I can put things into and when I flip the top up it has cup holders for coffee cups. Those seats are due for a good scrubbing, but I never do the scrubbing of carpets and seats until summertime. Because I have found that things never get completely dry in the winter and I am just asking for mold and mildew in crevices on hard to see places. One summer it was 100 degree's out and I scrubbed out the whole interior and just blasted the whole inside with water to rinse it out. It was dry in two hours cause.....it was 100 degree's outside!